October Update 2012

posted Oct 15, 2012, 6:59 AM by Anu Jain

Hi again,

These past months have been terribly busy at Inheritors. There has been a lot of upheaval in the office and Emmanuel School.

In May and early June, there was a clearance of the slum and a lot of families had to leave the area and return to their villages. This meant that the number of children at school reduced. There were a few admissions but a number of parents, unsure of their future in Nari, after admitting their children, moved out after term started.

There was a lot of planning for the new academic year and a month before school opened, one of the teachers informed us she would not be renewing her contract. Then two days before the year began, another one of the teachers didn't show up for work. The next day she called to say that she got a job in another school and would not be coming back.

Trained English-speaking teachers are very difficult to find here in Nagpur and with no notice given, my mum (Kath) and I decided to take up the teaching at school alongside the administrative work. This has been a challenge but after three months of intense teaching, the children have finally begun to pick up their lessons better.

Work on the land at Gumthi has begun. The land now has the following things:

1. Electricity - We had to install 12 electrical poles over the two kilometers that separates us from the neighbouring village. It was a difficult decision it meant that we had to spend a considerable amount but this was the only way that we would be able to get electricity on the property.

2. A Borewell has been dug and tomorrow (16/10/2012) a submersible pump is being installed.

3. A Watchman's cabin (1 room and 1 bathroom) has been built and we now have a watchman living there.

We hope to begin the construction on the wall by the end of October. There have been many festivals over the last month and so the work is going slowly as in India, festivals and festivities mean that there are no labourers. However, there is a break in the festivals towards the end of this month and this is the time that we hope that the wall will be constructed.

We are also planning to plant trees around the property on the 29th of this month.

The children at Emmanuel School have begun preparing for the Annual Function in December. There will be dances and skits and this year we hope to have a few of the children singing both in English and in Hindi. This is something new for them.

There has been an outbreak of various diseases this year. These include a few water-borne diseases and malaria. More recently, there have been a lot of kids out of school because of viral fever and the flu. There were the usual number of chicken-pox cases. We continue to hold bi-monthly medical camps at school. Under the Jars of Cana project, mothers are called and counselled about childcare and healthcare on a monthly basis. There is also a new awareness among the fathers and many of them have begun to take a keen interest in their children's education and their family's welfare.

Inspite of the difficulties faced here, it is encouraging to see these changes after all these years of working in the slum. We hope and trust in His unfailing goodness.

We value your support and thank you for your interest in our projects.